Environmental Impact Statement for the Thunder Mountain Project, Dewey Gold/Silver Mine, on the Krassel Ranger District of the Payette National Forest, Valley County, Idaho

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Environmental Impact Statement for the Thunder Mountain Project,

Dewey Gold/Silver Mine, on the Krassel Ranger District of the Payette

National Forest, Valley County, Idaho

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The USDA Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact

statement (EIS) for a proposal submitted by USMX Inc. USMX's proposal

is to develop a new open pit gold/silver mine in the Thunder Mountain

Mining District located in Valley County, Idaho. The mine would be

located on private and National Forest System (NFS) lands

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within the Krassel Ranger District of the Payette National Forest.

The EIS will focus on: (1) construction of one mine pit, process

facility, and haul road or conveyer on private land in the headwaters

of Mule Creek, (2) construction of one waste dump on NFS land in the

headwaters of Mule Creek, (3) construction of a dedicated heap facility

on private land in Venable Saddle, and (4) the transportation of

equipment and fuel across NFS lands to the mine site. The proposal will

be referred to as the Dewey Mine project.

The Forest Service invites comments on the scope of the analysis to

be included in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). In

addition, the Forest Service gives notice that it is beginning a full

environmental analysis of this proposal and that interested or affected

people may participate and contribute to the final decision. Issues

raised will help establish the scope of the environmental analysis and

develop the range of alternatives to be considered. The Forest Service

welcomes any public or agency comments on this proposal.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received

by July 21, 1996, to ensure timely consideration. The Forest Service

will conduct three open-house scoping meetings to allow interested

parties an opportunity to identify issues and concerns. Representatives

of the Forest Service and USMX will be available to answer questions

about the proposed Plan of Operations.

Meetings will be held as follows:

June 26, 1996, 7:00 pm (MDT) at the Payette National Forest

Supervisor's Office, 800 West Lakeside Avenue, in McCall, Idaho.

June 27, 1996, 7:00 pm (MDT) at location to be announced, in Boise,

Idaho.

July 1, 1996, 7:00 pm (MDT) at the Town Hall in Yellow Pine, Idaho.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments and suggestions to: Dewey Mine EIS,

Payette National Forest, P.O. Box 1026, McCall, Idaho, 83638.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Direct questions about the proposed action and DEIS to Fred Dauber,

Krassel District Ranger, Krassel District Office, P.O. Box 1026,

McCall, Idaho, 83638, telephone (208) 634-0614.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: USMX, Inc., has submitted to the Payette

National Forest a proposed Plan of Operations for a new mine to be

located in the Thunder Mountain Mining District in Valley County,

Idaho. The Plan describes proposed development, operational, and

reclamation activities for the Dewey Mine, an open pit precious metal

(gold and silver) mining and cyanide heap leaching operation. The

proposal includes the following components:

Developing an open pit in the vicinity of existing

underground and surface workings which were last worked in the early

1980's by the Golden Reef Joint Venture.

Constructing a synthetically lined pad and loading it with

ore to which a sodium cyanide solution will be applied in order to

leach gold and silver values. This pad will be at the location of the

former Sunnyside Mine on-off leach pad used by Coeur d'Alene Mines

Corporation in the late 1980's.

Constructing one or more waste rock dumps near the open

pits.

Constructing and maintaining one or more soil stockpiles

and an ore stockpile.

Constructing haul roads or constructing a conveyor system

to transport ore from the pit to the crusher.

Constructing storage ponds for excess run-off and process

solutions, including a lined pond in the partially backfilled Sunnyside

Pit.

Constructing or relocating one or more buildings in which

gold recovery operations will occur and in which diesel generators for

power generation will be located.

Construction or relocation of storage tanks for diesel

fuel.

Reclaiming the site, including removal of roads and

revegetation of the waste rock dumps and heap.

Proposed mine development and operation would affect approximately

223 acres within the Thunder Mountain Mining District, a 5,980-acre

enclave within the Frank Church--River of No Return Wilderness. Of this

223 acres, 80.9 acres are unpatented mining claims on public lands and

142 acres are in private ownership. All of the affected acres have been

disturbed to some extent by previous mining activities during the past

100 years. In addition, development and operation of the mine would

require the use of approximately 100 miles of County and Forest System

roads.

The EIS will consider a range of alternatives, including the no-

action alternative. Other alternatives will be developed or modified to

address issues and mitigate impacts. Agencies and the public have

expressed preliminary concerns regarding effects on: surface and ground

water, air quality, soils, geology, wildlife, fisheries, socioeconomic

and social impacts, recreation and visual resources, public safety and

transportation, and cultural resources.

The Forest Service will further expand and/or clarify issues based

on public input provided during the scoping process. All interested and

affected members of the public may participate in the scoping process.

All interested and affected members of the public may participate in

the scoping process. This process will include:

1. Identification of issues.

2. Identification of issues to be analyzed in depth.

3. Development of alternatives.

4. Identifying potential environmental effects of the proposed action

and alternatives (i.e. direct, indirect, and cumulative effects and

connected actions).

If requested, the Forest Service may make a copy of all comments

provided in response to this Notice available to the public. This will

include names, addresses, and any other personal information provided

with the comments.

David F. Alexander, Forest Supervisor, Payette National Forest,

McCall, Idaho, is the responsible official for this action. The DEIS is

expected to be available for public review in May, 1997.

The comment period on the draft environmental impact statement will

be 45 days from the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes

the notice of availability in the Federal Register.

The Forest Service believes, at this early stage, it is important

to give reviewers notice of several court rulings related to public

participation in the environmental review process. First, reviewers of

draft environmental impact statements must structure their

participation in the environmental review of the proposal so that it is

meaningful and alerts an agency to the reviewers position and contents.

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. NRDC, 435 U.S. 519,553 (1978).

Also, environmental objections that could be raised at the draft

environmental impact statement stage but that are not raised until

after completion of the final environmental impact statement may be

waived or dismissed by the courts. City of Angoon, v. Hodel, 803 F.2d

1016, 1022 (9th Cir, 1986), and Wisconsin Heritages, Inc. v. Harris,

490 F. Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980). Because of these court

rulings, it is very important that those interested in this proposed

action participate by the close of the 45-day comment period so that

substantive comments and objections are made available to the Forest

Service at a time

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when it can meaningfully consider them and respond to them in the final

environmental impact statement.

To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues

raised by the proposed action, comments on the draft environmental

impact statement or the merits of the alternatives formulated should be

as specific as possible. Reviewers may wish to refer to the Council on

Environmental Quality Regulations for implementing the procedural

provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act at 40 CFR 1503.3 in

addressing these points.

The FEIS is scheduled to be completed and available to the public

by August, 1997. The responsible official will document the decision

and the reasons supporting it in a Record of Decision. That decision

will be subject to appeal pursuant to 36 CFR 215.

Dated: June 12, 1996.

Jerry D. Greer,

Planning Branch Chief, Payette National Forest.

[FR Doc. 96-15719 Filed 6-19-96; 8:45 am]

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